Statehouse

5:54 am

Mon August 11, 2014

Former Illinois Lawmaker Dies at 48

Services are pending for former west-central Illinois state lawmaker Mike Smith.

Oak-Hines Funeral Home in Smith's hometown of Canton says the 48-year-old Democrat died Saturday morning at his home of a suspected heart attack.

The (Peoria) Journal Star reports Smith served 16 years in the state Legislature before losing his 2010 re-election bid.

He later was named by Gov. Pat Quinn to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. That appointment drew criticism over whether Smith was qualified for the $94,000 position. Quinn called Smith ``a friend'' with a long record of working on education in the statehouse.

Quinn says Smith ``set an example for what service to the people of his district and the people of Illinois should be.''